On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with wrestling journalist Jason Bryant of Mat Talk Online.

Our subject was the 2014 NWCA All-Star Classic, the college wrestling all-star meet which takes place Saturday, November 1. The location is the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, in the heart of Philadelphia.

Held at the start of the 2014-15 college wrestling season, this event is its semi-official kickoff.

We spoke with Jason Bryant by phone Friday.

"We got seven number one vs. number two matchups," he said. "All around, it's a real kickoff."

Five defending NCAA Div. I champions are slated to compete: Ohio State's Logan Stieber, Northwestern's Jason Tsirtsis, Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer, Missouri's J'Den Cox, and N.C. State's Nick Gwiazdowski. Several other wrestlers who are ranked number one in this year's preseason polls will also hit the mat.

Plus, there will be five showcase matches, including a women's freestyle match between 2014 World bronze medalists Helen Maroulis (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) and Jillian Gallays of Canada.

We discussed who these talented wrestlers are, what to expect in these matches, the state of college wrestling in America, and much more.

Here is the lineup:

(Rankings by TheOpenMat.com)

125: #3 Alan Waters, Sr. (Missouri) vs. #4 Joey Dance, So. (Virginia Tech)

133: #1 A.J. Schopp, Sr. (Edinboro) vs. #2 Mason Beckman, Jr. (Lehigh)

141: #1 Logan Stieber, Sr. (Ohio State) vs. #2 Mitchell Port, Sr. (Edinboro)

149: #1 Jason Tsirtsis, So. (Northwestern) vs. #2 Josh Kindig, Sr. (Oklahoma State)

157: #2 James Green, Sr. (Nebraska) vs. #3 Ian Miller, Jr. (Kent State)

165: #1 Alex Dieringer, Jr. (Oklahoma State) vs. #2 Nick Sulzer, Sr. (Virginia)

174: #2 Robert Kokesh, Sr. (Nebraska) vs. #1-NAIA Brock Gutches, Sr. (Southern Oregon)

184: #1 Gabe Dean, So. (Cornell) vs. #1 Jack Dechow, So. (Old Dominion)

197: #1 J'Den Cox, So. (Missouri) vs. #2 Scott Schiller, Sr. (Minnesota)

285: #1 Nick Gwiazdowski, Jr. (N.C. State) vs. #2 Mike McMullan, Sr. (Northwestern)

Showcase Matchups:

Women's FS 55kg: World #3 Helen Maroulis (United States) vs. World #4 Jillian Gallays (Canada)

133: #1-Division III Alex Gomez, Sr. (Ithaca) vs. #17 Kevin Devoy, So. (Drexel)

141: #1-NCWA Ryan Diehl, So. (Liberty) vs. Jordan Laster, So. (Princeton)

149: #3 Devin Carter, Sr. (Virginia Tech) vs. #20 C.J. Cobb, Sr. (Penn)

184: #3 Lorenzo Thomas, Sr. (Penn) vs. Clint Morrison, Sr. (Rider)

For those unable to attend in person, the event will be streamed live on Flowrestling.org, and requires a FloPro subscription ($20/month). It will also be televised in the U.S. several times on tape-delay on Fox College Sports.

For more information, go to http://www.nwcaonline.com/NWCAWebSite/Events/nwcaallstarclassic.aspx.

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Thanks, Eddie Goldman
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